Barbie Bedding in 5 Minutes

Barbie bedding are pretty easy to throw together. Here's what you'll need:

*A fat quarter

*A hot glue gun (these things are amazing) 

*Stuffing

First, I measured the barbie bed that we built and doubled the width. 

I did the same thing for the pillows. I eye balled about how big I wanted them to be, then doubled the size.
                                                

Next, I folded them in half and hot glued the sides together leaving one end open, so that I could stuff them with stuffing.

Once the mattress and pillows are stuffed, simply hot glue the open end and you are done. See, this is so easy.

To make the actual Barbie bed, we used some leftover wood chunks from other projects, We glued those pieces together using wood glue and let them sit over night. You could easily make a bed out of anything you had laying around like cardboard.

Here are a couple pictures of the  finished product. Not too bad for a five minute project. Most importantly the bedding passes the 6-year-old approval test.

DIY Barbie Couch for $5

Can you believe that Christmas is right around the corner? I asked my girls the other day what they wanted for Christmas. When my oldest told me that she wanted Barbie furniture, I went to Amazon and started looking around. It didn't take too long to realize that if we bought the premade, plastic Barbie furniture that she wouldn't get very much of it. 

A Pinterest and Google search later, I found a couple of blog posts about making your own. There wasn't very much other there (a few pictures of before and after), so I thought I'd share my creations with you in case Barbie furniture is on your little's Christmas list. 

First, I went to Walmart and bought some large sponges. I got a three pack for $4. I'm making  two couches, so I bought two packs. Whatever brand I bought had some kind of bacterial preventive coating on it, so when you touched the sponges they felt wet. I let them dry out for a day before I put the couches together.

Once they were good and dry, I put two of them together and loosely stitched them together along the back. Then, I hot glued them together so that they looked like this. You probably don't need the loose stitch, but I wanted to make sure that they would stay together.

After that, I took another sponge and cut it so that it didn't hang over the edge. Then I cut the strip I cut off in half. These will the be the arm rests.

Just so you've got an idea of where I'm going with this. Here's what it will look like when you put the pieces together.

Once I had my pieces cut so that they fit the way I wanted, I got my fabric and hot glue gun ready. I used a fat quarter that I also got from Walmart for $.97. You can use whatever Cotton fabric you like to cover the sponges.

To cover, I wrapped the sponged in fabric exactly like I would have a Christmas present. So, I laid the sponge pieces out, then cut the fabric so that it covered it completely. I used the hot glue to adhere the fabric. And this was the end result. Not too bad for $5 dollars. 

I'll be making little cushions for these later on, but here's what I've got for right now.  Also, from here you could easily add little squares of wood for legs.

Happy DIYing. I'll be posting more of my Barbie furniture ideas, so stay tuned!

My 5-year-old Wants to Move Out

The conversation went something like this,

"I wish I could live with my friend." Jo said with a long sigh, "Forever."

"Oh. Well, if you lived with her, then I wouldn't be your Mommy." I said.

"I know." Jo replied (That's the sound of my heart breaking in two, in case you were wondering what that snapping sound was).

"Wouldn't you miss me? I know I'd miss you." I said, hoping that she'd remember how much she, ya know, loved her Mommy.

"Um... well, maybe. A little."

Oh. We're here already. I thought my daughters would like me until they were teenagers. Apparently, I was off by a decade or so. It could be that she started kindergarten this week, and that's why I took it so personally or it could be that ever present worry that I'm somehow messing this whole parenting thing up. That's the thing about parenting. You don't know if you're doing it right until they're grown. I'm not much of a long-term kind of person. Anything longer than a semester and I lose track of why I started in the first place. There aren't parenting check points along the way, and that's what makes this so hard, because you hope that you're being the parent they need without a way to ever really check.

So, to the mommas whose 5-year-olds want to move out or if you're wondering if you're doing a good job I say this: if you're taking the time to worry about whether or not you're doing a good job and you love your kiddos in a healthy way, you're doing a good job. As much as it hurts to let the kiddos branch out on their own, just think of what neat little people they're turning into.

Welcome to Real Life with the Joneses

At the suggestion of a friend, after I participated in the #loveyourspousechallenge, I decided to start a new blog. So here we are. Welcome to real life with the Joneses.

The thing about the #loveyourspousechallenge is that everyone kept posting these lovely, polished photos of them with their spouse. Don't get me wrong, those are great. Who doesn't like looking lovely? I know that I do, but that's not real. I don't wake up looking lovely and I'm guessing you don't either. I wake up with crazy hair, and morning breath. There's something lovely in the realness of that, that I think we've forgotten to appreciate. That's what this blog is for. To celebrate and talk about the real bits of life.

Life is about being short on time and making messes. Life is more than filtered photos and perfect moments, and I'm just learning to enjoy one moment at a time. I find myself always thinking ahead to what comes next in the day, the week, the month and I don't know about you, but I'd like to stop. I'd much rather be in the present. So, here's to living in the moment and enjoying the mess.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients
3 Chicken breasts, cubed
2 TBS olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 can green chilies
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
1 28 oz can green enchilada sauce
1 8oz  block colby jack cheese, grated
1 10 count package of tortillas

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray.

Put olive oil, chicken and diced onions in a pan. Cook until chicken is no longer pink and onions are softened, then add cream cheese and diced chilies and cook until cream cheese is melted. Turn off stove and set pan aside.

Spoon cream cheese chicken mixture into tortillas, then wrap into burritos and place into greased pan. Once you're out of the cream cheese chicken mixture and tortillas, pour enchilada sauce on and sprinkle cheese on top. Cook until enchilada sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Pairs great with cilantro rice, and if you love that green salsa flavor you can add 1/4 cup green salsa to the cream cheese chicken mixture.

This was the first recipe in our recipe book. It's been a long favorite of the ours. Enjoy!